Twist develops in Nevada disappearance of New Jersey native

Monday March 30, 2009, 10:13 AM

John Munson/The Star-LedgerCopy of a photo of Maureen Fields, shown with her beloved dog Wolfie

It has been more than three years since Maureen Fields, a bank teller born and raised in New Jersey, vanished from her home in rural Nevada. Paul Fields, her husband, has been and remains the only suspect in her disappearance, according to law enforcement.

The mystery entered another phase last week when Fields asked a court to have his wife declared dead. If his petition is granted, he can inherit her assets and remove her name from the couple's three parcels of land.

On the day after she failed to show up for work three years ago, Maureen Fields' empty car was found across the California state line from Pahrump, Nev., stuck in the desert off a road to Death Valley. The keys were still in the ignition, while a blanket stained with a small amount of blood and vomit lay on the ground.

That was in February 2006. No one has seen or heard from her since, nor has her body been found.

Photo courtesy of the Nye County Sheriff's Department in NevadaHandout photo of Maureen Field's car off the road in Chicago Valley, Ca. in 2006.

Nye County Sheriff's Office investigators believe she is dead and have recommended Fields be charged with her murder. He is their only suspect. However, the district attorney has told Maureen Fields' family in New Jersey there is not yet enough evidence to warrant an arrest.

Fields said he never harmed his wife and has no idea what happened to her. He said he has been forced to file his petition because his bid to divorce his wife three months after she vanished was thwarted by his father-in-law.

"I wanted to divorce my wife. I didn't want her declared dead," the former New Jersey man said in an interview Friday. "I have no other recourse. I have to be able to move forward. I'm being punished for being married -- that's what it comes down to."

A hearing is scheduled for July 6.

With his filing, Fields -- who until recently speculated his wife could be alive after skipping town -- now joins her friends and relatives in believing Maureen Fields is dead.

"It's a gut feeling," he said. "I don't know for positive one way or the other."

"This is the first time he's admitted she's dead," Fitzgerald said. "On the surface, it would seem to be a contradiction, but now it's a convenience."

Fields' attorney offered the theory that something bad had befallen Maureen Fields, citing the reputation of both Las Vegas and Pahrump for a certain level of lawlessness. The rural town is an hour west of Las Vegas.

"In this Godforsaken state, there are predators who look for any opportunity to strike," said Harold Kuehn, the attorney.

Left behind were her wallet, glasses, contacts, shoes and prescription medicine -- as well as her beloved pit bull, Wolfie. Maureen Fields was 41 at the time of her disappearance.

Fields, 59, attracted the attention of police almost immediately, in part because his wife instructed relatives and friends that if she ever disappeared, they should tell police "Paul did it." Fields contends she may have been setting him up for a staged disappearance.

The couple had been fighting over her gambling and his jealousy, and she had talked of seeing a divorce lawyer, police said.

The case of the former North Arlington woman was chronicled in The Star-Ledger last fall. After that article, police began a systematic review of her disappearance as if it were a classic "cold case." Police said in the process they learned of the existence of more photographs of the desert setting where her car was found. Those photos reportedly show a second set of tire tracks.

A Nevada detective also traveled earlier this month to Florida, where the couple lived before moving out West, to re-interview their acquaintances. He also took a DNA sample from one of them.

Fields' petition asks to be named his wife's executor, giving him sole control over three tracts of land in Pahrump now jointly owned; a bank account; her IRA; two stock-trading accounts; and $94,000 in proceeds from Florida property.

The petition is risky, said Jeff Segal, a veteran Las Vegas defense attorney. Should Fields ever be charged with murder, prosecutors could use his testimony at the July hearing to help prove a key element of their case: that Maureen Fields is indeed dead.

"He's taking a huge chance," Segal said. "If I were his criminal attorney, I'd say this was a very dangerous situation for him."

Fields said he is simply doing what the law requires at this stage. He said even if his wife is legally declared dead in July, he will ask his church congregation to continue to pray for her.